Thunder of Wade

Let me start off by saying that I’m a big fan of the enviroment.  I recycle, try to conserve energy, and I’m really looking forward to composting my grass clippings.  That being said, I freaking despise the Ohio e-check.  Here’s the scoop:

1. My car is a 2000 cavalier and has to be checked every two years, prior to getting my registration renewed.   The test involves plugging this into a computer at the testing center and downloading the emissions information.  Note that if the car was older than 1996, they would do a different/manual test.  Also note that if the Check Engine light is on, it will fail the download.

2. I went to the e-check station and as I pulled up I told the guy that the light was on, that I’ve had it diagnosed as a “fuel cap” issue, that I’ve replaced the “fuel cap” twice with no resolution, and could they do the manual test?  He replied, in a kind of “why is your brain so stupid?” manner and informed me that the computer determines the test.

And they we proceeded anyway.  Another, much friendlier, staff person gave me the printout at the end of the test and told me that I passed.  I was elated.  Or at least very happy/relieved.

3. The next day, printout in hand, I went to the BMV.  The clerk at the desk looked at that and said, “This says your car failed the test”.  I told her that they told me the opposite and she said I would need to go back and have them check and print again.

4. Back over to the echeck station, I told them what had happened.   The person I talked to apologized that the other staff person had told me wrong and they could get me a card to get a temporary tag.

5. On my way back over to the BMV, I realized it was a lost cause.  The card would help get a temporary tag – not a sticker that I need – and would require me to present my title – which I don’t carry around with me.  I went in anyway, confirmed that it wasn’t going to work, and was advised that I should save everything to avoid a fine for being late on down the road.

6. When I got home, I got an appointment to get my car looked at yet again on Saturday.

Now, if they had done the manual test instead of relying on my car to keep track of it’s own emissions, they my registration would be done at this point.   Also, the whole thing is based on air quality in this county.   Which is not the fault of the cars – it’s the history of industry in the area.  Fortunatly, the echeck station and the BMV are pretty close to where I live and work.  I’m hoping that the “repair” (which might be just turning off the dang light) gets things done so I can wrap this up before my birthday.   Or I should just sell the car and start riding the bus.  Thank you, state of Ohio, for complicating my week.

We had a pretty good sized snow recently and while I managed to ignore it when it was coming down – sort of – it eventually attached enough of my attention that I decided to shovel the driveway that I share with my neighbor when I got home from work.

I got sort of bundled up and grabbed my shovel – and started to work.   Except that the driveway is brick.  And I would have had better luck trying to scoop up corn with a pitchfork.  Every couple inches… BLAM!  I hit a brick.  I cleared the areas in front of the garages since they were slabs, but I was getting cold and going nowhere fast.  I was working the bricks again when my neighbor came home and said,

“You don’t need to do that,”

And then, like magic…

“I have a snowblower,”

It was some of the best news I’d  heard all winter.   I said I would go ahead and clear the steps and our sidewalks – he thanked me and then noticed that I’d done in front of  his garage as well.

I think it was a good thing that I had made the effort – shows a “good neighbor” kind of thing – but I am very relieved that he’s got the rest covered.

I finished up the shoveling I was going to do, then went inside and fixed myself a scalding hot cup of tea.  My fingers eventually stopped hurting from the cold and I found myself almost looking forward to the next snowfall.

Almost.

My sister called me this morning and had some big news.  My niece went poop in the potty!  I can’t recall ever having been so excited about someone pooping before. They were both pretty excited too – my niece especially so since she got a sucker as a reward.   My sister is planning on saving those for the “major events” and using M&M’s when my niece goes pee in the potty.

As a side note, apparently Mom toilet trained me in a day using M&M’s – so, it works.  Though, I was clearly gifted.

Buoyed by their success and with gift cards in hand, I headed out to get started on my projects.  First stop was Lowe’s for curtain rods, detergent (apparently, I have an HE washer), a new shower head, and plastic for the office window.  Next, Best Buy for a new game.  I had a gift card and the game I wanted was on sale – and it included a bonus game.   Sweet!

Then, Bed Bath and Beyond for curtains.  I wandered around that section for awhile before I conceded that I was totally out of my element.  I found a clerk, expressed my ignorance, and got set on the right track.

For the record, I skipped going to books a million.  You should be proud of me.   A quick stop at Wendy’s and then I was on my way home.

I ran into some trouble with the curtains – the existing holes in the wood were too small and I ruined a couple screws trying to make them work before getting out the drill.  Then I realized that the doecorative bits on the ends of the curtain rod wouldn’t really fit in the space I had.  I left them up anyway and you can’t really see them.

Then, plastic for office window.  I’ve put this up before, but never with a window so drafty.  The wind actually made the plastic billow out  – and this is with the windows “shut” – and it didn’t do quite according to plan.  I’ll try again with the dryer tomorrow and see if I can get better results.

Finally, the shower head.  I got the old one off okay and went to put the water saving one on and… it didn’t fit.  Apparently, I need an adapter.   Looks like I’m going back to Lowe’s tomorrow.

In and among the projects, I also did some laundry.   Since this was the first load I’ve done since I’ve been here, I felt the need to encourage the washer as it started off.  I also said some nice things to both the washer and the dryer every time I went to check on them.  It must  have worked – my clothes are clean.   Ummm… yeah.

So, a little Imogen Heap and then it’s off to bed for me.  More work to be done tomorrow.

We had Christmas at my sister and brother-in-law’s house this year.  They had plenty of room and my parents stayed there as well.  It was a long drive after a long day of work, but well worth the trip.  My niece  – who is almost two – was so much fun.  She’s starting to put together sentences and its really neat to watch her learn new things.

Christmas morning was good and she started to get into the presents – which was a good thing since she  had a lot to open.  We mostly just hung out and enjoyed the long weekend.  My sister wasn’t feeling well part of the time and she had more company coming in from out of town, so, my parents and I left early to give her a break.

I’m off this week and have been working on the house some more – just trying to get things organized and sorted so I can  have company.   I’m hoping to catch up with one of my workers so he and his wife (who helped me get started on this adventure) can see the place once it’s all set up.    I’m also hoping FMR’s mom and grandmother can stop over and see the place.   I they’ve been joking that they want to move in – but I think the stairs would give them pause.

Well, I’ve been getting to bed early as much as I can this week – about time for me to hit the shower and then  hit the hay.

So, with all the stuff moved in, it was time to unpack and get things set up.  I’ve got a couple of rooms I don’t really know what to do with, but the rest has now been designated.  Kitchen, dining room and living room are easy.  But I also got a kitchen annex that I’m not sure what to do with.   Basement with a full bathroom – and I’ve now got my weight bench set up there as well. Second floor has my bedroom, the library, and one of those unknown rooms.  Third floor – yes, a third floor – has the origami room, an unknown room, and the office – where I’m sitting now.  And it’s cold in here.  I’m a little worried about the heating bill, so I’m keeping the temp low and much of the house closed off.  Once I get that first bill, I’ll be able to judge it a little better.

I’ve cleared a ton of boxes – the library along was a massive undertaking – and the basement is actually sort of organized.

I also met the neighbors and introduced myself.  They are an older couple and seem nice – the guy came over while I was working on garage door and held the flashlight for me.   I’m hoping that we all stay on good terms – we share a driveway and I’m not really sure the protocol yet on that.

I’ve gotten my first piece of mail, taken out the trash, and done my first very minor repair.  No laundry yet – I took what I had with me when I visited my family for Christmas.

And…   I’m lonely.  Deeply so.  I had a room-mate all through college and then afterwards as well.  When my prior room-mate moved out – or rather, when he was forced to move out – I was dating someone and never felt alone.  Then I had my most recent room-mate and even when things went sour, it was still to have someone around.

This was the right decision for a whole of reasons and I’m getting used to the quiet, but it’s still weird.

I ended up closing on my house the evening of the 15th of December.  It came right down to the wire with getting the amount I needed to bring with me from the title agent.   Then I got slowed down at the bank due to a lady who had clearly not read the fine print when she opened her account and was very cross about a fee that had been charged.  The teller managed to work around her and get me the cashier’s check – though they ended up pulling from the wrong account and took my checking account very low.

The closing went as smoothly as a pile of of papers can be.  I swear, I think they could have measured it in inches.  I handed over the check, the realtor gave me a hug and a bottle of wine and I was suddenly a homeowner.

My folks, my sister and brother in law came up to see me that weekend and helped me move.  I had trouble actually getting possession – the other realtor wasn’t answering his phone and we ended up just going over to see how the former owners were doing.  They were just about done with two car loads to go and I got the keys and asked that they call me on my cell when they were finished.

Well, they never called and we ended up just going back over there. I got the doors opened and we got started on moving stuff in.  We ended up making several trips and there was a lot of ibuprofen dished out.  They headed back and I made another trip with my car that evening.

And I slept that night in my new place in my own bed.  Pretty cool.

I was supposed to close on my house today, but we are apparently delayed.   The one-time bonus all UA employees got back in 2009  – and consequently caused what appeared to be a “dip” from 2009 to 2010 in my income freaked out the underwriters even more than I’d thought.  In addition to the letter I had to write to explain this, they also wanted a written verification of employment.  And the University has a 5 day turn around on that.  I didn’t know they had made that request, otherwise, I would have trucked on over to HR and called in some favors.

So, that didn’t get back to the underwriters until yesterday morning and despite the “rush” the loan officer put on it, I knew things were not going to work out to close today.

That means that the sellers can’t close on their new place on schedule and I won’t get possession in time for my family to come up and help me move this weekend.  And I’m unlikely to be moved before Christmas.

Which kinda sucks, but it’s not the end of the world.    I’ll have time off after Christmas and my family may be able to help me then as well.

It’s just so dang frustrating that paperwork is getting in the way.  Never mind the stable job and great credit score – I can’t move forward because of some bureaucratic paperwork.

I’m hoping to hear back from the bank today and see where we’re at.

I’m working on a project that requires some very small folding.  So, as a break/practice, I did some more familiar fold on a very small scale.  And by very small, I mean 1 inch squares of paper.

Here’s the set  – three cranes, a rabbit, and a duck  – with a quarter for scale:

And because the duck didn’t show well in that shot, here he is all by himself:

Back in 2009, we got a one time bonus at work to compensate for having to pay more for our benefits. So, from 2009 to 2010, I actually made less money. Which has apparently confused my bank and I found out I have to produce a written statement explaining this to them. It’s yet another roadblock that has been shoved in front of me. It’s like they just really don’t want to give me a loan.

It’s frustrating. Every time I get done jumping through the hoops, there are suddenly more hoops. And some of those are on fire.

After this latest hitch, I found myself thinking, “If I knew then, what I know now, I wouldn’t be buying the house,”. And if I could have bailed out without making things so much worse, I would have just given up on the house. It’s been that frustrating. And all the fun has been sucked out of the process.

Insert head shaking here.

On my walk back to work after the dentist trip this morning, I stepped out into the crosswalk and a car came tearing around the corner. I wisely stepped backwards onto the sidewalk to get out of the way, but that wasn’t the end. Apparently, the driver didn’t realize that the car behind him was a police car. And that he didn’t yield to a pedestrian – me. The lights and siren went on and I think a ticket was issued. I didn’t stay around to gloat, but it was nice see a win for those on foot.